Imagination Doctors
January 16–March 21, 2026
UIC Gallery 400
Alberto Aguilar, Sophia Karina English, William Estrada, Maria Gaspar, Mauricio López F., Victoria Martinez, Alan Medina, Leticia Pardo, Pros Arts Studio, and Jiashun Zhou
Imagination Doctors is the first presentation on the long arc of the Pros Arts Studio ensemble and its influential legacy on Chicago’s art and education scene. Established in 1978, the Pilsen-based collective offered free, diverse artistic workshops and performances to Chicago’s communities across various locations, including streets, parks, community centers, and local K-12 schools. The organization assembled over 150 creative members, ranging from puppeteers and clowns to visual and performing artists, committed to highlighting the role artists play in enriching the lives of the communities in which they live. Pros Arts Studio integrated lively arts programming into the curricula of public schools, initiated the first Día de Los Muertos Parade in Pilsen, and hosted a Hotline 21 show, a Chicago Access Network Television call-in show that enhanced young students’ literacy and social skills while also amplifying their voices on social issues.
Growing out of a multi-year relationship that resulted in an installation for Learning Together: Art Education and Community, this exhibition incorporates materials from their archive—print ephemera, photographs, videos, handmade performance sets—with newly commissioned works by contemporary artists, former collaborators, and students. Nine artists have been invited to develop new work that responds to the ensemble’s archive and/or invokes aspects of the ethos that has powered their multifaceted work for nearly fifty years.
January 16–March 21, 2026
UIC Gallery 400
Alberto Aguilar, Sophia Karina English, William Estrada, Maria Gaspar, Mauricio López F., Victoria Martinez, Alan Medina, Leticia Pardo, Pros Arts Studio, and Jiashun Zhou
Imagination Doctors is the first presentation on the long arc of the Pros Arts Studio ensemble and its influential legacy on Chicago’s art and education scene. Established in 1978, the Pilsen-based collective offered free, diverse artistic workshops and performances to Chicago’s communities across various locations, including streets, parks, community centers, and local K-12 schools. The organization assembled over 150 creative members, ranging from puppeteers and clowns to visual and performing artists, committed to highlighting the role artists play in enriching the lives of the communities in which they live. Pros Arts Studio integrated lively arts programming into the curricula of public schools, initiated the first Día de Los Muertos Parade in Pilsen, and hosted a Hotline 21 show, a Chicago Access Network Television call-in show that enhanced young students’ literacy and social skills while also amplifying their voices on social issues.
Growing out of a multi-year relationship that resulted in an installation for Learning Together: Art Education and Community, this exhibition incorporates materials from their archive—print ephemera, photographs, videos, handmade performance sets—with newly commissioned works by contemporary artists, former collaborators, and students. Nine artists have been invited to develop new work that responds to the ensemble’s archive and/or invokes aspects of the ethos that has powered their multifaceted work for nearly fifty years.
Photos by Diana Solis.